Go Math Newsletter

I wrote this newsletter for a Houghton Mifflin Harcourt sales team when a product called Go Math! was launched. The goal was to educate the team about the product in a way that they would be fun and memorable, so that they could then sell the product. The challenge of the job was that there were many different aspects of the products that needed to be explained in a simple but compelling way. They also requested that the project be written in a tone that “tabloid-y”.

I approached the project by doing extensive research about the program and its elements by culling through dozens of studies and documents that the client provided. Since the sales team was selling the product to teachers and administrators, from this mass of information, I looked for anything that could explain how the program helped teachers and administrators do their jobs more easily and more effectively. Then, I came up with a list of about 10 topics that could be written about that would be the sales team’s talking points.

I also researched what Common Core was and why they would want to incorporate it into their curriculum, since at the time, Common Core wasn’t widely known or understood. That way, I could include information about why it was important that the new program met Common Core standards.I then read a number of tabloid stories online and wrote down words and phrases that were used, which helped me to set the tone when I started writing. I wrote separate stories on each topic, which were then transformed into three newsletters for the sales team at a series of sales presentations.

Afterward, the client told me that it was “a smash success” and they were so happy with it that they wrote me into their marketing plan the following year.